


growing pains

by eloboosting



Series: in search of parents [3]
Category: League of Legends RPF
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Found Family, Gen, M/M, a cracky premise that ended up weirdly serious, accidental parent acquisition, reluctant parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 19:03:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11789463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eloboosting/pseuds/eloboosting
Summary: Jongin is a veteran on a team of fresh-faced rookies, unsure of what to do when faced with such youth. Beomhyun has an overactive maternal instinct that just won't quit.aka four times pray realized he was a Dad, and one time he accepted it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is...significantly less cracky than I was expecting it to be. it's also very different from the style of the original 2016 looper & mata rng-era in search of parents series, but it is still accidental parent acquisition.
> 
> sort of?
> 
> anyway, this is inspired by the solo interview with pray where [he acknowledges he's a dad but that he doesn't care for his kids.](https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/2627/lz-pray-on-old-rox-i-told-kuro-i-wanted-to-see-him-in-the-finals-but-he-was-like-go-samsung) he def cares

On the scale of relationships between teammates—between _adcs and supports_ —Beomhyun really doesn’t ask much from him. Jongin's done enough shit that it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for Beomhyun to pull favors from him in compensation, but in their years of acquaintance, that's never been his pattern. Instead, Beomhyun just accepts his mistakes and flaws both in game and out without comment, and it has Jongin feeling guiltier than anything else.

It’s probably why he does most everything Beomhyun asks him without thinking. It’s _definitely_ the reason why, when Beomhyun had asked him to accompany Woochan to the store, he’d absentmindedly accepted.

“Hyung!” They’re currently in the snack section, and Woochan has an armful of bags that Jongin has the vague inkling he’ll end up paying for. “What’s Beomhyun hyung’s favorite thing to eat?”

He gestures Woochan to come closer, who skips over with a bright smile as he unloads his stash into Jongin’s basket. Jongin can feel regret settling in right around the level of his wallet and he sighs. “Food,” he says. “Beomhyun likes food.”

Woochan frowns. “That’s not helpful, hyung.”

Jongin ignores him because Woochan’s thankfully already chosen a bag of honey butter chips he knows Beomhyun favors. “Go fetch that tea Boseong likes. I can never remember the name.”

Woochan frowns at him. “Only if you tell me what Beomhyun hyung likes to eat!”

“He likes sushi.” He makes a shooing motion. “Now go! We have to get back soon.”

Even when Woochan pulls a face at him, he still obediently runs off to fetch Boseong’s tea. Jongin scans the shelves one more time when he spies the weird gum Dongha loves chewing before games, and he thinks fondly about how dumb some of his kids’ pre-game superstitions are as he tosses it into the basket when—

When did they become _his_ kids?

Woochan runs back to him out of breath, a six-pack of the bottled tea clutched in his hands. “Hyung?” he asks, looking almost worried when he waves a hand in front of Jongin’s face. “Are you okay?”

He wordlessly takes the tea from Woochan, patting him on the head while Woochan glows with pride. “I made sure to get the lemon flavor,” Woochan says proudly. “That’s his favorite.”

“Great,” Jongin says, because he _knows_. He knows that’s Boseong’s favorite flavor in that brand of tea, that he needs to pick up a black coffee and three sugar packets on their way back for Dongha, because as much as the kid pretends he likes to drink it black he has a sweet tooth a mile wide. Woochan may have piled on ten different varieties of snacks into their basket, but his absolute favorite are the weird seaweed flavored ones delicately placed at the top.

He never signed up to be a father, but he’s not sure that’s his choice anymore.

“Let’s go home,” he says, suddenly tired and emotionally exhausted, but Woochan stops him with a tug on his sleeve.

“Wait, hyung, we didn’t get your ramen.” The look Woochan gives him is thoughtful and sweet and he _remembered_ , and something in Jongin almost breaks because of it.

He lets himself get pulled into the next aisle, loading up on instant ramen he’s sure Beomhyun will scold him for getting. But he can’t seem to will up the energy to care, not when Woochan is excitedly chattering at him on their way back home.

-

Being on a winning team somehow makes life so much _easier_. Of course, they still keep their brutal scrim and practice schedule to keep up their form and sleep is still a scarce resource to be protected, but there’s none of the insecurities and confidence issues that come with losing. None of the protracted, awkward silences as everyone mulls over their mistakes, no flaring tempers or blaming or sudden problems that occur between teammates.

No, the main issue they have is choosing where to eat for their victory dinners—something so ridiculously superficial that Jongin isn’t sure whether to feel relieved or offended.

Most of their team hasn’t felt the same depths of desperation he and Beomhyun had gone through, though—haven’t struggled to keep on a smiling face even when their energy had been cut and they had practically frozen to death in their own practice room. And for Woochan and Boseong, both so incredibly young that it makes Jongin want to puke sometimes, being raised in this setting is probably for the best.

That doesn’t make their arguments about where to eat any less inane.

“Barbeque!” Dongha insists. “It’s practically team tradition now.”

Boseong frowns. “Only because you keep forcing us to go! Why can’t we do something different for once?”

Jongin sighs as he watches them stare each other down. Beomhyun is usually the one to break up the arguments, but he’s currently busy napping against Jongin’s shoulder, meaning there really isn’t anyone else to intervene. The coaches are nowhere to be seen, having left them to fend for themselves after their last game.

“Because barbeque is the best celebration meal!” Dongha’s voice is steadily rising, and Jongin shoots an alarmed glance over at Beomhyun.

“That’s because you _only_ eat meat,” Boseong accuses. “Not all of us are carnivores.”

Woochan is curled up on the couch next to Beomhyun, totally engrossed in his phone and therefore useless. And so it’s up to Jongin to shut the kids up before they wake up Beomhyun and face his half-awake wrath.

“Let’s get sushi,” he interrupts, before Dongha can say another word. “There’s a new place nearby that looks good.”

Both Dongha and Boseong seem to perk up at the suggestion, looking up at him with wide eyes. Jongin takes one last look at Beomhyun’s peaceful sleeping face and sighs again. “My treat.”

Dinner is otherwise uneventful, marked only by the kids’ fight over dishes on the conveyer belt.

“That yellowtail was _mine_ ,” Dongha yells, while Woochan cackles loudly as he stuffs the stolen piece of nigiri in his mouth. “You’re so greedy!” Boseong silently slides the last piece off Dongha’s plate while he’s still distracted, biting into it while he watches the other two fight.

Beomhyun is still a little sleepy, eyes half-open and bleary as he rests his head against Jongin’s shoulder more often than not. “You’re good at this, you know?”

Jongin pauses in his eating for a moment, turning to him with a confused look. “Good at what?”

“You’re a good dad,” Beomhyun cracks a smile even as Jongin rolls his eyes and mimes a gagging motion. “No, really. They really respect you. And like you.”

Jongin shrugs. “The fools, they should fear me.” Beomhyun laughs, and Jongin can’t help but continue. “Anyway, they like you best. They even got you three accounts in top ten challenger.”

Beomhyun takes the time to swipe a piece of salmon off Jongin’s plate—and whatever, he didn’t want to eat it anyway. “Of course they do, that’s why I’m the mother.”

He takes another look at where Dongha is now interrogating the both of them about the disappearance of his sushi, when Boseong finally snags him another plate of yellowtail and shoves it against his chest. And he’s not saying he’s accepted his role as Father—far from it, really, still in the depths of denial—but they’ve done a pretty damn good job raising them, as far as kids go.

-

Their loss against Samsung, while not unexpected, still hits them a devastating blow. Dongha takes it especially hard, absorbing all of the blame and criticism of his poor play without complaint and has still yet to raise his head from the arm covering his eyes.

It’s these stark events that remind Jongin of exactly how green the rest of his team is, and he feels a pang of empathy when he thinks back to how hard he took every loss when he first started playing as well. There are many nostalgically pleasant memories left from his days on Najin, but they’re paired with just as many bitter ones—the same ones that had him retiring in the first place, feeling too old and washed up and altogether too _tired_ to continue fighting for a piece of a pie that was always just too far out of reach.

“Can you find Boseong?” Beomhyun asks him, arms already wrapped around a sniffling Dongha. “I’m worried about him.”

“I told you, hyung,” Dongha says, still talking straight into his hands. “I’m _okay_. You don’t need to stay with me.”

Even if Beomhyun didn’t give him one of those _looks_ , Jongin can easily tell that Dongha’s lying through his teeth and he sighs and nods. “Yeah, sure.” He glances back at Dongha, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself. You did well.”

He feels Dongha’s shoulder twitch underneath his palm, and Beomhyun gives him a knowing look he pointedly ignores, before he sees his way out of the room to go find their missing middle child. He eventually finally finds Boseong sitting in the far back corner of the stadium, arms wrapped around his knees with his legs propped up on his seat.

“Hey,” Jongin says, trying to mask how out of breath he’d gotten from his search. “You’re really good at this hide and seek thing.”

Boseong looks up at him with a weak smile, eyes still red and his voice scratchy when he says, “Hi, hyung."

"What brings you all the way over here?" He looks around from their vantage point up in the stands, squinting a little to make out the details of the booths all the way in the center. "Not exactly the best seat in the house."

Boseong sets his head on his hands again, sinking impossibly further into his seat. "When I was on CJ, I used to come up here to watch them play.”

Jongin feels abruptly out of place, forced into an uncomfortable limbo of feelings and emotions he’s _definitely_ not equipped to deal with. This is definitely in Beomhyun’s realm of things, but Beomhyun isn’t here, and Boseong is looking up at him with a terribly hopeful expression he can’t turn away from.

He slowly slides into the seat next to Boseong, sealing himself to his fate. “Why?”

There’s a slight break in the moment, when Boseong tilts his head back and sighs. “When I first joined CJ, I thought—” he laughs, sounding a little off, a little broken. “I thought I’d have this amazing debut, just like Faker. Everyone would see how amazing I was, I’d be carrying my team through to playoffs and a championship and—” His voice becomes muffled as he lets his hands fall over his face. “And I ended up benched. For two teams through three splits.”

“I hated watching games backstage—always sitting next to the coaches and constantly wondering why they wouldn’t let me play. So I’d find a seat up here.” _Here_ is relatively dark, now that the matches are finished for the day and the seats are completely empty. It’s peaceful in a way, and there’s something so particularly special about watching a game as a spectator that Jongin almost gets.

“I think what I hated most was not knowing _why_." Boseong lifts a hand, staring at his fingers while Jongin finds himself doing the same. “What was so different about me and Sky? Or me and Fly? Why were they playing on stage while I was relegated all the way back to the stands? And—and what if nothing’s changed? I don’t know why I was benched, and I’m always afraid they’ll decide to bench me again.”

Jongin’s not sure how to articulate his understanding—doesn’t know the words that will somehow fix Boseong’s insecurities. The very nature of their careers is based in the unknown, he wants to say, he was on a team everyone expected to fail, full of unremarkable players that no one was willing to take a chance on that won anyway. Potential can’t be measured or even accurately predicted—every roster decision is rolling dice and hoping the combination holds up in the end.

“Teams favor known quantities—and now you’re a known quantity,” he finally says. “Either way, if any team is dumb enough to bench you, there are ten others that will happily buy your contract up.” He lets that sit for a moment before he continues. “And the next time you feel like coming up here—let me know. It’s a nice spot.”

He’s almost completely sure that’s absolutely the wrong thing to say, but he’s not some sort of trained wisdom dispenser like Beomhyun and it’s the best he can do. If anything, Boseong seems to find the comment funny, looking up at him with something akin to a real smile. “I don’t want another team, though,” he says.

A part of Jongin’s heart aches suddenly, a dull pain just beneath his ribs that he thought he’d never feel again.

Sometimes it’s not our choice, he should say. “Then we'd better keep winning,” he says instead, thumping Boseong on the back. “Now come on, let’s get back. I’ll treat you to something nice.”

Boseong eagerly jumps up to his feet. “Let’s get jjigae.”

And if Jongin wraps an arm around Boseong’s shoulders and ruffles his hair in a way that feels a little _too_ paternal—that’s no one else’s business.

-

Dongha’s always been a great player, but ever since showing up against some of the top contenders in the LCK, his fame has elevated to match his mechanical skill. His line at fanmeets nearly rivals Jongin’s own, filled with fans presenting him with gifts and asking for cutesy selfies with their newest favorite. Of course, Dongha takes to _that_ easily, basking in the fame and limelight like he always belonged there in the first place. He’s slightly bashful when it comes to some of the songs or props, but that’s a skill Jongin’s sure he’ll earn with time.

The thing Dongha doesn’t adjust quite as quickly to is the girls.

Win or lose, there’s one fan that consistently comes to their fan meets specifically for Dongha, blushing when she hands him a nicely wrapped present or some of his favorite snacks. Dongha doesn’t act much better, nervous and awkward when he talks to her, uncomfortably stiff when he holds the camera to take a photo.

“Young love,” Beomhyun sighs from next to him, and Jongin laughs at how wistful he sounds.

“You’re barely older than him,” he says dryly. “Don’t count yourself out yet—you have until at least kkoma’s age.”

Beomhyun slaps him on the shoulder. “Don’t you remember your first crush?” he asks. “It’s something special.”

Jongin’s first crush had been all the way back in elementary school, on a cute girl in his class who cut her hair short and an expert at the monkey bars, swinging laps around everyone who tried to race her.

“She can’t be his first crush,” he insists. “He has a TWICE poster up in his room.”

Beomhyun rolls his eyes. “First relationship, then.” There’s a fond smile on his face now, something rare and soft.

Jongin blinks, confused. He hadn’t realized Beomhyun had even dated before—the pro-gaming lifestyle isn’t conducive to those sort of relationships after all. It’s a topic they always danced around back on the Tigers, where they would discuss girls without discussing _girls_ , and it leaves Jongin curious. “Have you been hiding some high school sweetheart from us this whole time?”

“No,” Beomhyun says, and Jongin thinks that might be all, until Beomhyun sighs again. “It was back on Najin.”

At this, Jongin perks up. Because _Najin_? When they were their most desperate to prove themselves, obsessed with solo queue and scrims and—when did Beomhyun have the time to meet a girl?

He’s too startled that he lets Beomhyun leave before he can ask anything more, left to watch Dongha stumble through another thank you while his fan shyly asks for a hug.

Because it’s Beomhyun, he takes it upon himself to run through a basic sex ed and healthy relationships seminar for all of the kids on their team, sitting them in their living room and drawing generously on a whiteboard. Jongin gets drafted to be co-teacher when Beomhyun gets fed up with his catcalling and side comments, and ends up with the best seat to watch Woochan’s escalating expressions of horror.

“Girls are—” Woochan says faintly, eyes with a hazy faraway gleam to them. “They’re _weird_.”

Dongha looks awestruck, face cradled in his palms. “I can’t wait to have a girlfriend.”

Beomhyun looks amused if anything. “If you have any questions, ask Jongin.” He pats Jongin on the shoulder and moves on before Jongin can protest, motioning at Boseong. “Talk with me for a moment?” Jongin sneaks a look over at Boseong as they leave the room—face red, refusing to make eye contact with anyone, hands clutched tightly together. Huh.

He turns back to the two kids left in front of him, Dongha eagerly asking more questions while Woochan seems to shrink further and further back into the couch.

“Have you ever dated, hyung?” Dongha asks excitedly.

Jongin sighs. “Some,” he says, noncommittal. “But not since becoming a pro, there’s no time.”

Dongha deflates slightly at the comment, and Jongin feels bad for not being of any help for _that_ particular circumstance when he realizes—he does know someone who has that experience.

“Wait,” he says. “But I do know someone who can help.”

He doesn’t exactly scurry over to the door, giving some time to see if Boseong and Beomhyun are still talking—which, judging by the muted voices he can hear from outside his and Beomhyun’s room they are—

“It’s okay, I also—” Beomhyun’s saying, as Jongin raises his fist to knock. “He was on another team—it wouldn’t have worked out.”

Jongin pauses, not sure why he feels so unsure now about knocking until—

 _He_?

“It’s not weird,” Beomhyun continues. “To like both. There’s no problem.”

“I’m afraid.” He can barely hear Boseong, and immediately feels guilty for catching it at all, knocking before he can hesitate about it any longer.

He opens the door wide, hoping his smile reads real. “Beomhyun—Dongha has a question for you, about relationships while being a pro.”

Beomhyun glares at him, frustration furrowing his brow. “We can talk more later,” he says to Boseong before rising to his feet and turning to Jongin with a cross, “I thought I said you should answer all their questions?”

“Sorry, sorry.” he raises his arms. “It’s hard to answer questions you don’t have experience with! I know you’ve done this before, so—”

 _He_ , his mind thinks one last time before he firmly shuts down that chain of thought, ushering Beomhyun out to ferry his wise advice to Dongha as usual while he stands next to him as the stoic figure who occasionally nods along.

-

He hadn’t really noticed it before but, Beomhyun is cute. For a guy.

He has an endearing laugh and a bright smile and a cute face. Not that Jongin is paying attention or anything, that would be stupid. And anyway, anyone would be distracted by the way Beomhyun brushes his hair out of his eyes, or the twinkling in his eyes when he finds something amusing, or even the way irritation crinkles his forehead.

Anyone would notice, and Jongin is definitely not abnormal for being one of many who watches these things. Hell, Beomhyun has a whole legion of fangirls who hang onto his every expression. But the knows he’s staring too long when Beomhyun will sometimes catch his gaze, arching his brow in a silent question that Jongin can only answer with the shrug of his shoulders as he quickly looks away. There’s no good answer to provide—Jongin’s not sure what he’s doing either.

He understands now—plenty of people, plenty of _players_ would be interested in Beomhyun. If they were interested in guys, anyway, really cute guys at that. And it has Jongin wondering if Beomhyun’s secret boyfriend from the past is still watching, waiting for a vulnerable moment in Beomhyun’s life to take advantage of for a second chance.

That has Jongin feeling more defensive than he thought it might—it’s Beomhyun’s life, and Beomhyun’s choices, but something about him dating someone else, dating a _guy_ hits him in the gut, a pit forming in his stomach at the very idea.  
 

 _You’re dumb_ , Seohaeng texts him. _You refused to join a team without him_.

 _That’s different_ , he texts back, and it is—his, _their_ decision to join Longzhu has nothing to do with his current situation.

_I can’t believe he made you a dad without any sex._

_For the last time, I’m not a dad!_ He pauses before he presses send, staring at the line with uncertainty. He thinks back through the last couple of months and almost wants to smack himself on the head.  _Oh god, I’m a dad._

_And how do you feel about mom?_

_Shut up._

 

“Hyung,” Beomhyun says, sitting up against the headboard of his bed with his knees tucked against his chest. “Can I ask you a question?”

Jongin blinks and looks around. He’s almost certain he hasn’t done something stupid in the past week, has actually been on his very best behavior, ever since he realized—

He smiles at Beomhyun blandly, trying his best not to let his eyes stray from Beomhyun’s eyes. “Sure?”

Beomhyun pats a space next to him on the bed, and Jongin takes his place uncertainly. This is starting to become a little too serious, and he’s _really_ hoping shit hasn’t hit the fan—

“Do you think I’m attractive?”

Jongin almost chokes on his own breath, wondering if it might be better to count this whole situation out as a dream and wait for his inevitable awakening to reality. Instead, Beomhyun continues to look at him, nervously fiddling with the blanket. “It’s just, I’ve been kind of self-conscious lately and—”

“Yes,” he blurts out, and wonders what goddamn part of his brain thought that might be a good idea, but he’s too far gone at this point, so _all the way_ is his only option. “Of course.”

Beomhyun blinks. “Oh.” His face is slowly growing red, and Jongin tracks the spread with utmost precision. “Um.”

Jongin nods mechanically, carefully folding his hands together and hoping for the earth to swallow him whole. “Yup. You’re definitely cute.”

"Oh." He sees Beomhyun take in a breath, and suddenly he’s leaning in closer to Jongin, nearer and nearer until he can distinguish the exact shade of brown Beomhyun’s eyes are, until Beomhyun’s too close for that and they’re kissing.

They’re kissing.

It’s not so bad.

He lets Beomhyun push him down, back hitting the bed with a comfortable thump. Jongin hadn’t been kidding before—it’s been a _long_ time since he’s done this, but Beomhyun is warm and solid in his arms, soft and pliable and altogether too easy to roll over and pin down.

“Oh my god,” someone gasps from the door, and Jongin whips his head around to see Boseong cover Woochan’s eyes with his hands while Dongha makes another high-pitched dying sound.

He can hear Beomhyun sigh from underneath him. “This is why you knock!”

“My _eyes_ ,” Dongha whines, eyes squeezed shut. “I’m scarred for life.”

“What’s going on?” Woochan asks, even as Boseong seems to tighten his grasp, dragging him slightly away from the door. “Where’re we going?”

And because Boseong is the best child (after Woochan, who is too sweet and naïve and _young_ for his own good), he hooks a finger on Dongha’s shirt and pulls them all away from the door. “Sorry for the intrusion,” he says quietly.

“Knock next time!” Beomhyun calls out to them. Jongin looks back down at him, only to be greeted by a mischievous smile. “So, where did we leave off?”

Jongin blinks. “Um.”

He doesn’t get to say anything else when Beomhyun drags him down for another kiss. He doesn’t mind though—this ending is much better.


	2. a cracky, incredibly unrelated coda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF7dNIj1xD0)

“I want to introduce you to my boyfriend,” Boseong says nervously, hands clutched tight around his arms.

Beomhyun immediately perks up, sitting up straight in his chair and looking at Boseong with a beatific smile. “Of course, whatever you want.”

Jongin looks past Boseong to the hazy space behind him, where a shadow finally steps out from behind the door to stand next to Boseong, and he can _just_ make out a cat-like smirk and—

“ _No!_ ” Jongin shouts, just as Boseong says, “It’s Sanghyeok.”

Faker smiles at him, smug and victorious as always, and Jongin can’t help the strangled yell that he lets out.

 

And that’s right when he wakes up, breathing heavy as he stares at the ceiling in horror. 

Beomhyun stirs next to him, yawning a little when he cuddles closer. “Is something wrong?”

Jongin wills himself to calm down, counting the rapid beats of his heart as he wipes his palms on their blanket. “No,” he says, turning to lay a kiss against Beomhyun’s forehead. “No, everything’s all right.”

 

Unless Sanghyeok _dares_ to touch Boseong, then things will be very, very wrong.

**Author's Note:**

> jfc I can’t believe I went with the ultimate eavesdropping cliché, my creativity is sapped


End file.
